April U, 190!^ 



HORTICULTURE 



529 



GARDENERS^ AND FLORISTS' CLUB OF BOSTON 



Mercbpi-p of the Boston club lo the 

 number of sixty visited on invitation 

 the no'te^ plant growing establishment 

 of Thomas Roland at Nahant, Mass., 

 on Satmday, April 11. The visit v/as 

 not only a grand recreation but had. 

 besides a distinctive educational value. 

 Mr. Roland stands in the foremo.ci 

 rank as a plant grower, and some- 

 thing of value may be learned from 

 every corner of his establishment. 

 Here are a few things we "learned on 

 this occasion: 



We saw a house partially filled with 

 Van der Cruyssen and other azaleas, 

 more ijrolusely flowered than any we 

 have ever seen, under any conditions, 

 a.ny where. Imported this year? No. 

 sir! They were plants left over last 

 Easter on the hands of another grow- 

 er, which Mr. Roland purchased, 

 plauted out in the field in full sunlight, 

 dug up in the fall before frost came, 

 and there they are, actually with buds 

 so thickly set that the flowers have 

 not room in which to open. And the 

 foliage is grand as well. 



Plant, buyers, in Boston at least, 

 prefer their Rambler ros.=s in moderate 

 sizes, trained low so that when in 

 bloom they give a bush effect. Among 

 the single-flowered varieties Hia'^atha 

 takes the lead. As to cjlor it is not 

 easy to tell Lady Gay and Dorothy 

 Perkins apart. Both develop a bright- 

 er pink if grown under a little shade, 

 but in the full sun they are less likely 



to grow soft. The habit of Lady Gay 

 has the advantage in garden culture but 

 Perkins is a better subject for pot use 

 with its lighter growth and less mas- 

 sive 'lower clusters. Mr. Roland does 

 not encourage big strong growth in 

 thesa pot ramblers, light sprays mak- 

 ing a more pleasing plant when in 

 flower. 



Baby Ramblers, one year old, home- 

 raised from rooted c-.ttings, ir^ake a 

 big show and are just the thini; loi 

 the choap trade at Easter. There is 

 almost no limit to the demand. Cath- 

 erine Zeiraet, an imported Baby Ram- 

 bler, bears semi-double white flowers, 

 deliciously flagrant, but the ■ petals 

 drop too quickly to permit Its having 

 any value as an Easter subject. 



Hydrangea Jean d'Arc, with dark 

 red stems and pink pedicels concrast- 

 ing prettily with the pure white 

 flowers, is a better grower than the 

 old Thomas Hogg and makes a su- 

 perior Kaster plant. 



A long line of cold frames filled with 

 sturdy chiysanthemums attracted at- 

 tention from the fact that these chrys- 

 anthemums had wintered over without 

 any other protection than a banking 

 of leaves and a covering of double 

 sash. A new plant house, 34x140. re- 

 cently I'.nished, is filled with young 

 candy tuft which will produce a crop 

 for Memorial Day that will make a 

 big hol'3 in the bill for baikling the 

 house. There are acacias in several 



varieties, hundreds of Bougainvillea 

 Sanderiana not bare-steram?d a" usual 

 but carrying the old foliage in perfec- 

 tion and loaded with bloom., ericas in 

 rich variety but "too rich in price for 

 Boston's purse" says Mr. Roland, 

 thousands of cyclamens and tens of 

 thousands of Lorraine begonias for 

 next season. And why is it that every- 

 thing lo<d;s so remaikably bright and 

 healthy? Well, we can't answer the 

 question' in full; part of the explana- 

 tion is in the man himself, no doubt, 

 but it is worth recording that the ven- 

 tilators were all wide open and a 

 hov ling breeze from the Atlantic, 

 which was strong enough to lift one 

 of the sashes piled up outside and 

 carry it a dozen feet to destruction. 

 was tearing through the houses, and 

 the roses, acacias, genistas, campanu- 

 las, azaleas, hydrangeas and ericas 

 seemed to fairly revel in it! Again, 

 we noticed that every individual plant 

 had lots of room to itself. 



President Westwood of the Boston 

 Club voiced the gratitude cf the vis- 

 itors for the kind entertainment ex- 

 tended and three lusty cheers were 

 given for the host of the occasion. 

 Next the party was photographed and 

 then proceeded on the horae-vard ride, 

 little realizing as they heard the train 

 man call out ■•Chelsea," as they passed 

 through the quiet town, the awful de- 

 struction that was to visit it on the 

 morrow. 



"ENTIRE SATISFACTION." 



Wm. J. Stewart, Esq., 



Boston, Mass. 

 Dear Sir: — 



We find from the advertising al- 

 ready done that we shall be thus able 

 to sell all the aster seed we have to 

 spare and more, too. consequently 

 shall not care to continue further this 

 spring and will here enclose P. O. 

 Order to balance account with you, 

 besides thanking you for the favors 

 you have shown us in the past few 

 months. 



We expect to have a much larger- 

 supply of our special Imperial aster 

 seed for sale another fall and if so 



shall patronize your journal more 

 liberally. 



You have in fact given us entire 

 satisfaction; the results coming direct 

 from your journal have been more 

 than double our anticipation. 

 Respectfullv yours. 

 (Signed) CHAS. A. KIBBE. 

 Elmhurst. 111., April 13, 1908. 



PUBLICATION RECEIVED. 



Board of Park Commissioners. City 

 ol Minneapolis, ilinn., 2Lth Annual 

 Report, 1907. .\ beautiful volume, 

 finely illustrated and full of interest- 

 ing facts concerning this rapidly de- 

 veloping metropolitan park system 

 under the able management of Theo- 

 dore Wirth as superintendent. 



A TESTIMONIAL. 



Horticulture Publishing Co: 



Please discontinue our advt. of 

 Grafted Roses, as we are in receipt of 

 enough orders to clean out our own 

 stock. Orders have come in fast this 

 year. The first week our advt. ap- 

 peared in your paper we sold over 6000 

 plants. I like HORTICULTURE for 

 its original and valuable reading mat- 

 ter, apart from its value as an adver- 

 tising medium, and have frequently 

 heard it well spoken of. 

 Respectfully, 



E. HOLMES. 



Montrose Greenhouses. 



